Each
spring
semester,
Prof.
Rollett
teaches
Advanced
Characterization
and
Microstructural
Analysis.
This
course
is
transmitted
over
the
web
so
that
students
at
Florida
A&M
University
can
take
part,
as
part
of
our
Collaborative
to
Integrate
Research
and
Education
(PREM)
project.
At
Florida
A&M,
the
students
are
guided
by
Professor
Peter
Kalu,
who
also
contributes
some
lectures
to
the
course.
In
spring
of
2001,
students
at
Lehigh
University
and
Drexel
University
are
also
taking
part
in
the
class.
This
course
is
about
the
representation
of
internal
structure
and
the
relationships
between
these
representations
and
the
properties
and
performance
of
crystalline
materials,
with
special
emphasis
upon
their
polycrystalline
form.
Polycrystalline
materials
find
widespread
use
in
complex
engineered
systems
for
sustaining
of
mechanical,
electrical,
magnetic
and
thermal
loads.
They
are
employed
over
a very
wide
range
of
length
scales,
from
the
submicron
electrical
interconnects
in
computer
chips
to
the
meter-scale
load-bearing
structures
in
airframes
and
auto
bodies.
In
these
and
in
many
other
applications
various
aspects
of
the
internal
structure
of
the
polycrystal
are
observed
to
affect
the
important
properties.
Among
the
elements
of
internal
structure
that
effect
properties
are
included
the
size
and
shape
of
crystallites
(grains),
the
distribution
of
their
crystallographic
orientations,
spatial
correlations
between
these
geometrical
and
crystallographic
features,
and
various
aspects
of
the
defect
structure
(intercrystalline
interfaces,
dislocations,
point
defects,
etc.)
which
punctuate
the
crystalline
structure.
These,
in
turn,
are
affected
by
the
chemical
composition
and
the
processing
history
used
to
produce
the
material.
Figure
below:
Exposed
grain
morphologies.
An
example
from
Prof.
Rollett's
lecture
notes
used
to
teach
Advanced
Characterization
and
Microstructural
Analysis
|
